1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stencil carrier apparatus, and more particularly to a stencil carrier apparatus which is incorporated into a stencil discharging section of a printing apparatus and transports a used stencil from a printing drum to a predetermined position.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a printing apparatus such as a mimeographic printing apparatus or an offset printing apparatus, various types of stencil discharging devices have been heretofore developed so as to automatically remove a used stencil from a printing drum and discharge the same to a pre-determined position.
FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawing shows one of such apparatuses, which is exemplified in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54780/1986. In FIG. 4, a plurality of driven feed rollers 2 are disposed at the bottom of a stencil receiver 1. Above the driven feed rollers 2, there is disposed a substantially semi-cylindrical driving feed roller 3 in such a manner that a driving shaft of the driving roller 3 and a rotary shaft of the driven feed rollers are in parallel with each other. The semi-cylindrical portion of the driving roller 3 is covered with an elastic member 4, through which the driving roller 3 is pressed against the driven feed rollers 2 when the semi-cylindrical portion rotates. Discharge rollers 5 are disposed downstream of the driving feed roller 3, and discharge used stencils into a box, not shown.
With the foregoing structure, while the flat portion of the driving roller 3, contacts with the driven rollers 2, there is a gap wide enough to receive a stencil therein. Under this condition, a used stencil is fed into the gap from a printing drum. Then the driving roller 3 rotates so as to have its semi-cylindrical portion come into pressure contact with the driven rollers 2, thereby causing the used stencil to be taken in between the driving and driven rollers 2 and 3. As the driving roller 3 keeps rotating, the stencil is reliably transported by the frictional resistance between the rollers 2 and 3. Finally, the stencil is discharged into the box, not shown, by the discharge rollers 5.
However, in the conventional stencil carrier apparatus, there has been a problem that the leading edge of the stencil tends to be lifted or curled while the stencil is being carried between the driving roller 3 and the driven rollers 2. Then such a lifted or curled stencil gets into a space between the driving roller 3 and the stencil receiver 1, winds around the driving roller 3, and finally winds around the driving shaft of the driving roller 3. The lifted or curled stencil will not be carried in the desired direction.